Selectmen and a large crowd at Thursday night's board meeting came to hear a presentation by Boston-based wind power company First Wind on its proposed Longfellow wind farm project for Black Mountain and North and South Twin mountains. Instead, everyone learned that such a project might not even be viable, because First Wind studies so far show that wind atop Black Mountain is too strong for wind turbine engineering to handle, said Matthew Kearns, vice president of business development for First Wind.

Harvard inked a deal yesterday to purchase 10 percent of annual electricity consumed on its Cambridge and Allston campuses from a leading wind provider in New England. This agreement, in which Harvard will acquire over 30 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy, slates the University to become the largest institutional buyer of wind power in the region, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. ...Harvard will purchase 50 percent of the energy produced from First Wind's soon-to-be constructed wind farm in northern Maine for the next 15 years.

Dozens of people listened to five speakers give their views on wind energy at a forum Friday. Linda Walbridge, of the Western Maine Economic Development Council, said the goal of the forum was to help residents make informed decisions about wind power on a local level. The speakers included one proponent and one opponent of wind power, a sound permitting specialist and two people involved with proposed wind turbine projects in Oxford Hills.

Residents got a chance to ask a panel of experts about what wind development, and passing the ordinance would mean for them. It was clear from the number of cards being filled out, people in Dixmont had a lot of questions about wind power development in their town, which currently has a moratorium on wind power development. That measure was put in place to give the town time to draft an ordinance to regulate development. The planning board has completed the first draft of that ordinance, and Monday, residents got a chance to anonymously ask a panel of experts about it.

Under the whisper of a whirling 410-foot wind turbine, 250 people stood at the top of Kibby Mountain today to help celebrate the start-up of half of TransCanada's $320 million Kibby Wind Power Project and, somewhat unexpectedly, hear plans for the expansion of Kibby's 44-windmill project by adding 15 more on nearby Sisk Mountain. The proposed $100 million expansion project on Sisk Mountain would be located just west of the Kibby range and mountain project.

Though Lynne Williams supports alternative energy production and doesn't oppose the use of windmills to create it, she is fighting wind power in Maine just about every way she can. A Bar Harbor attorney representing the Friends of Lincoln Lakes, Williams is pursuing two appeals of decisions that, if reaffirmed, would help clear the way for an industrial wind site on Rollins Mountain ridgelines in Burlington, Lee, Lincoln and Winn.

At least two foreign business groups plan to visit Maine to explore wind power investment possibilities, following the governor's trade mission to Spain, Germany and Norway last month. StatoilHydro is expected in mid-November. The Norwegian energy giant has the only deep-water wind turbine off its coast, and it has an agreement with the University of Maine to explore the feasibility of putting such a turbine in the Gulf of Maine.

Questions ranging from how installing wind turbines might affect tourism and wildlife, to beliefs that such devices could cause physical and mental illnesses were put forth by some of the members of a panel Tuesday night that explored the possible ramifications of building a wind farm atop three local mountains. Conspicuously absent were representatives from First Wind LLC, the Newton, Mass.

A forum scheduled for next week will feature several representatives from proposed wind farm projects in the Oxford Hills. The Wind Energy Educational Forum will take place from 7 to 9 a.m. at Four Seasons Function Center on Route 26. Town Manager David Holt of Norway will moderate the forum, which is sponsored by the Western Maine Economic Development Council. The event is free and includes a continental breakfast.

A subsidiary of the state's largest wind power manufacturer will get Maine's first long-term electricity supply contract for its proposed 60-megawatt Rollins Mountain project in Penobscot County, officials said this week. The Maine Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved awarding the 20-year contract to First Wind Holding LLC ...While a state permit allowing construction of the project, which has yet to attract investors, has been appealed by a group opposing the wind farm, proponents are optimistic that the contract will help secure investors in the project.

A $250 million project to erect 48 wind turbines on four peaks in Somerset County was outlined at a meeting of about 30 people Thursday night. Because Highland Plantation is considered an unorganized territory, Independence Wind principals Angus King and Robert Gardiner are expected to file an application for permits for their plan with Maine's Land Use Regulation Commission by early November.

Selectmen on Tuesday learned of a citizens' petition calling for a 180-day moratorium on wind power development in town. Kirk Nadeau, president of Kean Engineering of Turner, has proposed erecting three, 1.5 megawatt turbines on Streaked Mountain but said he will not proceed without the town's support. James Parker, who is gathering signatures to bring the petition to selectmen, and ultimately to townspeople for a vote, said the full impact of a wind facility has not been explored.

The Maine Public Utilities Commission has reached a deal with First Wind Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Evergreen Wind Power III LLC, for electricity generated at the company's $130 million, 60-megawatt Rollins Mountain wind farm in Penobscot County, according to a press release from the PUC. No dollar figure can be attached to the contract until it is signed, which is expected to occur next week, Evelyn deFrees, a PUC spokesperson, told Mainebiz.

Gov. John Baldacci and others addressed the group at the beginning of the day, laying out national trends and where Maine fits in. In the afternoon, attendees sat in on sessions ranging from wind power generation for cities and towns to energy transmission issues in Maine. Outside, about 40 people protested Maine's wind power projects, and the current regulatory process.

Hundreds of wind energy enthusiasts gathered for Maine's first "Wind Energy Conference" in Augusta today. Supporters say wind power could mean big business for Maine. But as NECN's Amy Sinclair reports, not all Mainers are enthusiastic about these winds of change. To supporters, these turning turbines are symbols of clean renewable energy and economic growth. Opponents view them as symbols of government waste and environmental destruction.

With dozens of wind turbines proposed in a half-dozen towns in various stages of planning, the Wind Farm Development Committee of Rumford is planning a panel discussion on the pros and cons of such development. The forum begins at 6 p.m. Oct. 13 ...The local committee is particularly concerned with tentative plans by First Wind, LLC, of Newton, Mass., to site a 40-megawatt wind farm on the ridge that connects Black, South Twin and North Twin mountains. Most of the site is in Rumford, with a small portion in Roxbury.

An event in Augusta today that's billed as Maine's first statewide conference on wind energy is expected to draw the state's first organized protest against industrial-scale wind power. ...It's unclear how many opponents will show up at today's Maine Wind Energy Conference. But organizers of the protest say they plan to stand in the Augusta Civic Center parking lot and try to engage conference participants on their way inside. "There's huge resistance to wind," said Steve Thurston, a Vermont resident whose family has a camp on Roxbury Pond. "People are frantic about what's coming."

More than two dozen picketers from small towns across Maine staged a protest in front of the Augusta Civic Center Tuesday over what they say is a flawed and unfair process to develop industrial wind projects in the state. Inside, Governor John Baldacci and other state officials were hosting a daylong wind energy conference. Protestors say they want to put the state and wind developers on notice that they won't stand idle any longer.

Offshore wind power may have the capacity to help the state free itself from its dependence on foreign oil, but plenty of Mainers have concerns as well as hopes about its potential. More than 70 people gathered Tuesday night at the Samoset Resort for the last in a series of information sessions about several proposed test sites for offshore wind power generation held throughout September along the Maine coast. Many of them, including Margaret Schuler of Edgecomb, shared their opinions ..."Why would we lay waste to some of our best and most beautiful areas for a test site?" she asked.

The Board of Selectmen gave its approval Sept. 24 for the town to pursue a state grant to develop two wind generators at the police station. The funds, explained Conservation Commission chairman Sarah Lachance, are part of a federal stimulus package given to the state. "It offers opportunities for municipalities and schools for community demonstration projects up to $50,000 with a 20 percent match," Lachance said.